Key Takeaways:
– Neil Comess-Daniels, a California-based rabbi, urges Jewish Americans to support Vice President Kamala Harris.
– Comess-Daniels critiqued Donald Trump and Stephen Miller for championing laws he viewed as racist and xenophobic.
– The rabbi emphasized Harris’s ability to empathize with the most vulnerable due to her multicultural background.
– He initially opposed Stephen Miller due to his role in advocating for Trump’s policies on family separation and ant-immigration measures.
Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels Employs his Influence
Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels has stood up against former President Donald Trump and his senior adviser Stephen Miller, whom he accused of promoting racially discriminatory and xenophobic policies. Instead, he’s putting his weight behind Vice President Kamala Harris, urging other Jewish Americans to do the same.
Why Kamala Harris?
Comess-Daniels argues that Harris understands that America has a long way to go to ensure equality and fairness for all its citizens. He praises her empathetic approach, which is rooted in her experiences growing up as a multi-racial child in America, daughter of immigrant parents. He believes that Harris possesses a crucial sense of empathy that Trump and Miller lack.
Raising Concern Over Former Trump Policies
This isn’t the first time the spiritual leader of Beth Shir Shalom synagogue in Santa Monica, California, has raised his voice in opposition to Miller. Miller was instrumental in persuading Trump’s family separation policy among other anti-immigrant proposals. Comess-Daniels argued that such policies contradicted the values he held dear.
Comess-Daniels recalls his embarrassment and shame that a Jewish person in a leadership role could endorse such inhumane policies. More so because Miller’s family were part of his synagogue for a couple of years during Miller’s childhood.
Pitching for a Leader for Future America
In the spiritual leader’s opinion, Kamala Harris is a real leader who staunchly supports a society built on the rule of law. In contrast, Comess-Daniels views the rhetoric used by Trump and Miller as becoming increasingly dangerous and caustic.
He is ready to vote against the candidate supported by his former congregant and instead back a candidate who he sees as upholding key Jewish values. He believes that learning from and enhancing the lessons of our past is a value that both he and Harris share.
In conclusion, Comess-Daniels firmly stands by his statement that Harris is the only candidate in the election who signifies the significant Jewish American values. He is proud to back her and hopes that others will do the same.
While the influential Rabbi Comess-Daniels has made his stand clear, the ultimate decision lies in the hands of the voters. As the equality-driven ethos highlighted by Comess-Daniels comes to the forefront, it remains to be seen how the Jewish-American community will respond to his compelling call to action.